With an intimate four-person cast portraying a dysfunctional family Tennessee Williams’ groundbreaking play “The Glass Menagerie” debuting at City College on Nov. 4 peers into a troubled world with incredible grace.

The gin and cigarette culture of the early 1960’s business world takes center stage when an office transforms into a musical playground in the City College Arts and Music department play “How to Succeed in Business without Really Trying,” at the Diego Rivera Theater.

Inside the Diego Rivera Theater, the stage is almost bare. There’s a wooden step ladder, some coiled rope, and several old props laying displaced on dusty wooden planks. The theater is empty too, save for three occupied seats, and two figures up on stage working among the bare bones of a living room set: a couch, a coffee table and a window frame looking out on empty seats.

Lee Meriwether’s voice echoes through the theater as she recites her lines…